Editorial on the Research Topic Land degradation pattern and ecosystem servicesLand constitutes one of the most vital natural resources and provides the basis for human livelihood and well-being through the provision of multiple ecosystem services. Globally, land degradation occurring due to unwarranted land use/land cover change (LULC) is continuing to affect the landscape multifunctionality potential, affecting the provision of ecosystem services from healthy ecosystems. Such land degradation has affected 3.2 billion people who are poor and marginalized, mainly in rural landscapes, with minimal adaptation options (Sena and Ebi, 2021). Since the Earth's land resources are finite, the sustainability of their use is the prerequisite to human well-being, as vital components for realizing sustainable development goals (SDGs) by 2030, in particular the SDG 15.3, focused on creating a world with zero net land degradation (UNDP, 2019;FAO, 2021). In this context, land use/land cover change (LUCC) is an important factor that can degrade land properties with consequences on the provision of ecosystem services. Severe soil degradation due to LULC can result in the loss in the provision of ecosystem services on a landscape scale, meaning that they are affected not only by local processes but also by landscape-level processes occurring in heterogeneous spaces. The articles included in this research topic have dealt with land degradation from different perspectives with the aim of exploring ways and means to optimize sustainable land use, management and recovery suitable to develop strategies against land degradation and to enhance the provision of ecosystem services.The Research Topic has highlighted that some areas are more susceptible to land degradation than others (Figure 1), such as:-Areas characterized by saline soils: analyzed in detail by Basak et al. that have presented a comprehensive review of the degradation of salt-affected soil both describing the causes and drivers for salinization as well as possible mechanism-oriented rehabilitation options. On the other side, Outbakat et al. have presented the possible environmental impacts of some saline soil rehabilitation options based on the use of Phosphogypsum and Gypsum that can cause heavy metal contamination.
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